The damn user journey

Tayler Freund is a Product Designer (10+ Years) that is a bit quirky, a bit shy, but a filled with the idea to Challenge Everything. She is also writing a book (above) called 'It's Creative and Works' filled with over 100 interviews of designers, similar to herself.

"So Let me tell you a little story to start. My interview is really short", she says with a calm tone:

I started my careeer sneaking out to the local Burger King designing websites for two suppliers that worked for my father (he owned a construction company). There were two things I learned working out of BK: 1) No idea can be solved without talking to end users (ask the baristas, cashier or cooks what they think). 2) Every brand or design deliverable will always be evolving. Production is a growing mastery, and the difference between senior and junior designers, isn't experience, it is the speed of production.

Once you have mastered the craft, you will find that as creators, we live in the greatest of times.Today, we have nearly every tool that allows us to conceive of worlds not yet imagined. We can create nearly everything.

I’ve been there with the teams that have tried, and the nights that I can't sleep, are the nights that we have gotten close, pushing boundaries towards the unknown. And then we launch. We sit anxiously awaiting users to hold the brand in their hands; or scrolling down,- identifying themselves using this disrupting solution.

The landscape of product design is wider than ever. The road will always be a messy one, but the outcome; the launch; the reveal; the emotion of the team when they see a user smile:Is something that us as creators are addicted too.

If this is something your team is doing, or your looking to revitilize your existing brand-invite me, and lets take it to the next level - Start your project.

Wait, I'm not done yet

There are some things we as designers aren't doing correctly. (Did she just say that)?

And I am not talking about Figma, Webflow, Adobe, Frame, Grid systems, closing brackets, signing contracts... No I'm talk about integrated user studies, going outside and talking to others about an upcoming feature or product launch. I'm talking about people problems and solving them. I'm talking about design ethics and protecting interests.

Whoa...

Design Ethics

We are addicted to our phones. So what? - lets make a buck. (Well...)

I'm with you actually. But I think we can do it and both win. There are some really exciting things that are happening in the mobile space. How this effects all of us is real. It can be fun to design for use cases that are diligently about making their users "better".

Why should I hire a designer with ethics? That will cost me an arm, leg and bomb the schedule.

I will surpass the schedule (thats my guarantee). It just means that I am thinking about end users, how to obtain experiences that gain interest and ROI but still make certain that accessibly, privacy and interests are upheld. I promise, the design will be that much better because of it.

Creative Services

Big or small, I can help your business find their niche, design their platform, go to scale, brand their baby and ultimately cheers over a case of IPA's through Google Hangouts during launch. I incredibly proud of being on inspiring teams that kick butt - and learned so much. Onto the next!